Why Are We Strangers
by RoxyKills
Summary: AmyEphram MadisonEphram and other pairings... After Amy & Tommy break up. Witness the heartache I suck at summaries!


Amy Abbott sat on her bed in the guest room of her grandparents house, staring at her ceiling. So much had happened to her these last few weeks. She and Tommy had just had another one of their "little" fights, and she was still shaking from crying so hard. Really, it wasn't an actual fight, it was more like her coming to realize she couldn't believe a word he said. He'd been dealing drugs all along, and she'd known it. She'd seen him once before when she'd gone to his house for the first time. He didn't know she was there until his mother told him, and when he found out she'd hidden that he figured it was because she was embarrassed by the way he lived. She went along with that at the time, not wanting to start a completely different fight. She figured he'd only done it that once and he wasn't going to do it again, but he did. Lainey caught him and now Amy couldn't ignore it.  
She thought back to before Tommy, before she cried every night, before Colin had died, and before he'd even woken up. She'd had Ephram. He was the one boy next to Colin who'd ever really mattered. He cared about her, even when she blew him off, he still was always there for her, until he met Madison. The name stabbed Amy's heart and made her cry even harder. If she'd only stepped up and told Ephram how she felt! Madison didn't deserve him...  
Amy sat there and thought over all of this until she fell into a deep sleep. In her dream she found herself sitting on that familiar log, over hanging a sparkling pond. She'd been here before, she thought to herself. She looked down at the water and saw a familiar boy swimming towards the shore. "COLIN!" She screamed out to him. He looked up and called out to her, "Grover!" She jumped off of the log to him, but before she hit the water the scenery changed and she was sitting in the back of a truck. Her older brother sat in the driver's seat, and Colin was next to him.  
"Guys! Colin...BRITE SLOW DOWN!" The car hit a bump and flew into the air, and before it crashed to the ground the scenery changed and Amy found herself sitting on Ephram's bed. She cried into her hands and heard Ephram's voice. "Amy? What's wrong? Don't cry! I... I love you Amy..." he comforted her and she looked up as he hugged her. She went to kiss him and as their lips met he jumped back, looking frightened. "Amy?" He clutched his head and fell backwards off of his bed. Before he hit the floor Amy woke up with a loud scream. "NOOOO!!!" She sat up in bed, sobbing and screaming, "Ephram! No no no I'm sorry! Noo...." Bright burst in through the door, rushing over to Amy's bed. "Amy? What's wrong? What's going on? It was just a dream!" He hugged his sister and she pulled away, slamming her fists into his chest. He grabbed her arms as she shrieked. "No!! I killed them both! I killed them BOTH! God...." she sobbed and Bright looked at her, with tears streaming down his face. "God Amy... what's wrong? What are you talking about?" She looked up at him with horrified and tearful eyes, whispering into his face, "It's my fault... I--I-- I killed them both..." Her cries calmed down and Bright hugged her again. "Shh... god the one day Dad and Mom pick to go out you decide to go psycho on me..." Amy laughed slightly and Bright sighed a sigh of relief. "Well at least I got you laughing a little! Now what exactly is the problem?" Her head snapped up and she ran for her door, breaking free of Bright's grasp.  
  
Ephram Brown was sitting on his bed reading a Manga comic when he heard a knock on the door downstairs. He got up and walked downstairs, opening the door when he reached it. Amy Abbot stood in front of him, soaking wet from the rain, crying. She looked relieved to see him. "Amy? Are you all right?" She threw her arms around him and started crying louder. He put his arms around her, extremely confused. They stood like that for a couple minutes, until Ephram moved his arm around her shoulder and closed the door. Ephram guided her to the couch in front of his living room fireplace. "Here, sit down... you're soaked. Hold on, here's a blanket..." he reached behind her and grabbed a warm blanket from the back of the couch.  
Ephram wrapped the navy blue fleece blanket around Amy and gently brushed the hair from her face. She looked up at him, afraid to re-live her dream. She gave up worrying and leaned forward, kissing him. When she moved away again, he looked at her, still very confused. "Amy, you're shaking! What's going on?" She was so relieved that her dream hadn't come true that she kissed him again, this time he joined in and kissed her back, but after a few seconds he pulled away and looked at her. Her eyes went wide, as she half expected him to drop dead. "Not that I don't like this, Amy, but I'm worried about you. What happened?" She looked at him, a little embarrassed, and stood up. "I should go home." She turned for the door and Ephram grabbed her hand. "At least tell me if this means anything." She looked down at his hand and sighed, feeling like she might start crying again. "I... I don't know... I've got to go!" She let go of his hand and ran to his door, not looking back as he stood in his doorway, watching her disappear into the night.  
Ephram closed the front door, and turned around, leaning heavily against it. He jumped as he saw Madison standing at the bottom of the staircase, a tear rolling down the cheek on her shocked face. "Madison!" Ephram gaped, and she gave him a hurt look. "I need to leave." She moved to walk towards the coat rack and Ephram ran forward to stop her. "Please, just let me explain!" She stopped and looked him in the eyes, trying to fight back the tears. "Ephram, don't." She tried to get past him but he was fast, blocking her way. "Madison! I didn't mean to-" She cut him off, shooting him an angry look, "What? Didn't mean to what? To kiss her? To ask her if it meant anything? Is that it? Huh? Look, Ephram, I told you this would never work. Now, just let me leave, your sister is in bed and I shouldn't stay-" He moved forward and kissed her forcefully, causing her to practically fall backwards. She pushed him off of her and he stumbled a few steps and bumped into the wall. "I'm LEAVING." She grabbed her coat and threw open the door, running to her car crying.  
He watched her, and kicked the coat rack forcefully, causing it to crash to the floor. He screamed angrily and pushed the door closed. The phone rang an instant later and he picked it up, almost ripping it from the wall accidentally. "What?!" Amy's voice greeted him, "Ephram?" His voice softened and he responded, his voice cracking from trying to keep from crying. "Amy..." she heard his voice shaking and almost instantly assumed it was from her running out like that. "I want to see you... can you meet me in the park in a half hour?" He looked at the clock realizing his dad would be home from his date with in about twenty minutes, leaving him free to sneak out without worrying about Delia. He breathed deeply and agreed, "Yeah, of course." she smiled, "Alright, see you then." They both hung up and sighed at the same time.  
  
A half hour later Ephram Brown climbed out of his bedroom window and jumped off of his roof, ten feet from the ground. He landed on his butt, and got up painfully, rubbing his rear end and laughing, remembering the last time he'd done this over a year ago. When he rounded the corner he spotted Amy sitting on a bench in the front section of the small town park. She stood up as she saw him walking quickly towards her, and walked up to him, half smiling, half frowning nervously. "Hi." She said, when he finally reached her. Their breaths showed in the air because it was so cold. "Hi." He responded with a still shaky, and now exhausted voice. "Listen, Amy, I think that this is a-" She pulled him towards her and held her face inches from his. "Ephram, don't think about anything, don't think about Madison, don't think about your dad, don't think about Tommy or Colin, just me. Just you and me, and us..." He looked into her brown eyes and felt his heart melt. She always did that to him. It made him mad, because he couldn't help but love her, even when he should be angry at her. They moved closer to each other and their lips met, only for a few moments before Ephram felt a forceful punch on the side of his head, and blacked out.  
  
"TOMMY! TOMMY STOP IT!!!" Amy shrieked and tears poured down her flushed cheeks as she tried to pull Tommy off of Ephram's unconscious body. He was kicking and punching Ephram horribly. He stopped and rounded on Amy, giving her a hurt and anger-filled glare. "Don't LOOK at me, DON'T YOU STAND THERE, AND TRY TO LOOK AT ME!" He screamed and ran off, leaving a bloody and unconscious Ephram on the ground, with Amy standing there crying. She bent down and put her hand on Ephram's face, still crying and shaking, and whispered to him, "Why do I always end up hurting you?" Amy stood up, calling out to anyone who could hear her, "HELP! WE NEED HELP..." She knew it was no use, no one in Everwood ever stayed up past eleven, and it had to be rounding on two in the morning. She didn't want to leave him there, bleeding and unconscious, but she was afraid of what might happen if he didn't get some help. She glanced around and spotted a pay phone across the street. She ran over to it and dialed the first number that same into her mind.  
  
Harold Abbott was just beginning to fall asleep when the phone rang. He groaned and reached over to his bedside, picking it up ruefully. "Hello?!" He became instantly awake when his only daughter's crying voice met his ear. "Dad?" "Amy, what's wrong?" She cried and tried to get hold back her sobs to speak another sentence, "It's Ephram, he's hurt, we're at the park..." Her father sat upright in bed and stood up. "Amy, you hold on, I'll be right there!" She managed to say, "Okay, Bye," before breaking into sobs. She hung up the phone and ran back across the street to Ephram. Not even five minutes later a shaken Harold Abbott parked his car in front of the Everwood town park. He ran from the car, spotting his daughter instantly. She was sitting on the ground next to the crumpled body of Ephram Brown.  
  
*Yeah, I know, majorly long chapter, but I'm setting it up in major sections, because it's just easier that way for me. Please Read and Reveiw!! Thanks!!!* 


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